Re: Star Wars: Episode IX - December 20, 2019
I find it interesting that using established characters in satisfying ways has become synonymous with the now derogatory term "fan service."
It hasn't. Fan service means (at least for me) tailoring a story to include things that would hit the right notes with fan sentimentality, expectations, or preferences *without being necessary for exposition, or any other legitimate story reason.* I see it as pandering to the audience for a cheap thrill. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, btw.
The opposite of fan service would be telling an organic story, written and filmed to do nothing more than project the true vision of the filmmaker onto the screen. If it's not what people expect or hope for, so be it. As long as there's an authenticity with the filmmaker's vision. And I don't mean to suggest that this is a "better" way of making a SW film. Just what I prefer, that's all.
Was it fan service in ESB to have Han, Luke, Leia, and Vader back and better than ever? Apparently so.
No. It they were all there to tell a whole new story. They didn't bring back any extraneous or superfluous ANH elements that didn't need to be there just so fans could feel warm and fuzzy. ESB had nothing but integrity in that respect. It wasn't out to give fans what they wanted. Luke losing to Vader, Han being taken by Fett, and no happy resolution wasn't fan service. It was the opposite. And it was amazing. No gimmicks. No pandering. And not worried about giving people what they wanted/expected that would be overtly similar to ANH.
As far as predictable and derivative retreading of old narratives how does TLJ *not* exemplify that to a "T"? Middle chapter where Force novice goes off to learn from an exiled Jedi Master while Star Destroyers chase the ship that Leia is on through space, AT-AT's attack fleeing rebels on a desolate white planet capped off with the main two Force users trying to turn the other one in front of the bad guy on his throne until the "bad" one turns on him and kills him. Oh yeah and a sauve scoundrel betrays the heroes when the bad guys show up in overwhelming numbers.
The Force novice going off to learn from an exiled Jedi Master was the setup from TFA.
But it didn't end up going that way. That's even what one of the repeated objections was, as a matter of fact. Star Destroyers chasing a ship happened in the OT, yes, but that's almost like complaining about lightsaber battles being derivative. Some elements will be repeated in these films, almost out of necessity. The AT-AT's on Crait was indeed derivative, but mostly from an aesthetic and stylized perspective. It was to set up the perceived "Luke versus a whole column of AT-AT's," but always intended to culminate in something other than it seemed. Hence, "subversion."
Even the throne room scene and the "scoundrel" was done to invoke past narratives, but ultimately change the outcome. Compare that to some of TFA's derivative narratives that not only had the same aesthetics and setups, but also played out the same way. Starkiller Base being the most obvious example: massive super weapon (aesthetics), destroys planet(s) (setup), and gets destroyed by rebels who were outmatched and against heavy odds (outcome). A complete ripoff, with no substantive change to the narrative.
In fact I'd be surprised if anyone could seriously "predict" what's going to happen in the new film based on the teaser trailer alone.
We'll see.
I do agree that the teaser feels like an extension of TFA but I'd love to hear how anyone could think that a single scene feels like it would have been taken *from* TFA.
You mean like seeing wreckage from the Old Empire (Death Star instead of Star Destroyer)? Maybe like heroes going to a distant planet looking for a savior (MacGuffin instead of Luke) to take back to help them win? Like a low-flying starship zipping across sandy plains?
I’ve never considered fan service to merely be reuse of characters - that’s a necessary part of any ongoing saga.
(Except Lando. Not really sure what’s the point of bringing him back.)
Fan service to me is the constant (and almost always unnecessary) reference to objects and events from previous films (or the fandom overall).
It reached its peak with Solo and its laundry list of OT references and artifacts.
I agree with everything you stated here. But, I forgive the Lando thing.
